NRW
Faeser expects clarification from Ditib after the Taliban appearance
Men pray in a mosque (symbolic image). photo
© Arne Dedert/dpa
A high-ranking Afghan Taliban official appears in a mosque in Cologne – and causes a stir. It is unclear how the man was able to enter the country.
After the appearance of a high-ranking Afghan Taliban official in a Cologne mosque, it is still unclear how the man was able to enter Germany. The Foreign Office (AA) strongly condemned Abdul Bari Omar’s appearance on Friday.
The trip was not announced to the AA and the man was not issued a visa before entering Germany. When asked on Saturday, the North Rhine-Westphalian Interior Ministry said the man was the head of the food and medicine authorities in Afghanistan.
Omar appeared on Thursday in Cologne-Chorweiler in a mosque that belongs to the umbrella organization Ditib. The Islamic Association distanced itself from the appearance, saying that the “Afghan Cultural Association Cologne Meschenich” organized the event, which was announced as religious. The club was banned from entering the building. The cultural association, however, emphasized that it was neither involved in renting the event room nor were any club members present. Among other things, charges were filed for defamation of reputation.
Faeser expects an explanation from Ditib after the appearance
Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser heavily criticized the appearance and called for clarification. “The appearance of the Taliban representative in Cologne is completely unacceptable and should be strongly condemned,” said the SPD politician to the German Press Agency in Berlin. “Nobody is allowed to offer radical Islamists a platform in Germany.”
The Taliban are responsible for massive human rights violations, Faeser continued. “In Germany we protect many refugees from Afghanistan from the oppressive rule of the Taliban. That’s why Taliban officials have absolutely no place in Germany.” The responsible authorities investigated the case intensively. The umbrella organization Ditib, to which the Cologne mosque belongs, is expected to provide “a complete and very quick explanation of how the appearance in Cologne came about.”
The North Rhine-Westphalia State Chancellery also strongly condemned the Taliban official’s appearance. “The fact that members of a radical organization like the Taliban spread their ideologies unfiltered on German soil is an unspeakable event,” a spokesman told the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger”. However, the Düsseldorf Interior Ministry referred to an assessment by the Federal Prosecutor General: According to this, the Taliban, with their seizure of power in Afghanistan and the formation of a government in September 2021, are no longer a criminal or terrorist organization “from this point on.”
The spokeswoman for the NRW Ministry referred details about entry from Afghanistan to the federal authorities. The AA had made it clear that the federal government did not recognize the Taliban. “As long as the Taliban in Afghanistan blatantly trample on human rights, especially the rights of women and girls, there will be no normalization with the Taliban regime.”